Description
Chopard is a Swiss watchmaker and jewelry house founded by Louis-Ulysse Chopard in 1860. Founded in the small Swiss village of Sonvillier, Chopard's initial focus was on precision timepieces, in the Swiss tradition. Chopard manufactures many of the watch components in-house, rather than creating watches from parts created in other factories. The company's reputation for quality and reliability spread quickly, and the founder's son, Paul Louis, opened a second branch in La Chaux de Fonds, along with the relocation of the company's headquarters, in 1921. The company moved to Geneva, then the world capital of Haute Horlogerie ("Fine Watchmaking") in 1937. Great grand-son Paul Andre Chopard took over the company in 1943. In 1963, the company sought a buyer who could continue the family's rich heritage of fine timepiece production, and the company was sold to Karl Scheufele, from a noted German watchmaking family.
